Internet bill sparks contest over regulation

WASHINGTON {AP} Lawmakers declared they were preserving the free-flowing nature of the Internet when they passed a bill to ensure people would never pay per-minute fees to get online.

Companies that offer cheap telephone calls over the Web, however, say a provision in the legislation could open the door to Internet regulation.

"You just cannot take the old school, old economic rules and apply it to the new world order," said Jeff Pulver, a leading industry spokesman and chief executive officer of pulver.com, an Internet-based research firm.

Pulver and others have launched a spirited campaign to protest the bill, taking on the nation's powerful local phone lobby. The companies planned to hold an "Internet Freedom Rally" today on Capitol Hill.

The movement has received strong backing from the head of the Federal Communications Commission, who fears that imposing old regulations on new services will stifle growth.

"If the Internet can deliver a telephone conversation, or a movie or a rock concert less expensively than through traditional means, than so be it," said FCC Chairman William Kennard, in remarks prepared to kick off today's rally.

At issue is a House bill passed in May that forbids the FCC from imposing per-minute charges on companies that provide Internet service, which ultimately would be passed on to customers. A provision in the measure said the FCC still could require companies providing telephone service over the Web to pay the access charges.